SCARIDAE 



{Parrot fish) 



On a first visit to the Red Sea one cannot but be impressed 

 by the enormous quantity of these fish, commonly called 

 parrot-fish because of the fantastic variety of their colouring 

 and the shape of the mouth, which is not unlike a parrot's beak. 



Some species of the family are no more than a few ounces 

 in weight and a few inches long, but others may weigh up to 

 forty pounds and measure a yard. Scarids live where the 

 coral formation is most highly developed because their diet 

 is based on the polyps of the madrepore colonies. They arc 

 sociable and live either with members of their own family or 

 in company with other groups, such as labrids and chaeto- 

 donts. They are highly regarded as food by the natives of 

 the coasts and islands, but for all our victualling problems, 

 which were sometimes acute, we never resorted to cooking a 

 scarid. They reminded us of labrids, which are handsome 

 but unappetizing. 



The most interesting of the scarids in shape, size and 

 habits is the one that we called the rhinoceros fish. This 

 animal has been amply documented by Roghi and can be 

 seen in a photograph in the text. It has been classified as 

 Scarus muricatus. 



It was already known in the Pacific and had been reported 

 as seen for the first time in the Indian Ocean by Smith in 

 August 1953. The British Museum has the skeleton of one 

 taken in the Solomon Islands (Pacific). I am at present 

 preparing a complete scientific monograph on the subject, 

 which will contain the first ofiicial announcement of its 

 presence in the Red Sea. 



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